UP TO five practice runways around the Indian Ocean were reportedly discovered programmed into Captain Zaharie Shah’s flight simulator, Malaysian media claims.

A Malaysia Airlines plane is seen on the tarmac at Kuala Lumpur International Airport onSource:Getty Images

The Berita Harian Malay language paper quoted unnamed sources close to the investigation as saying that the airport runways were Male International Airport in the Maldives, Diego Garcia and three runways in India and Sri Lanka.

“We are not discounting the possibility that the plane landed on a runway that might not be heavily monitored, in addition to the theories that the plane landed on sea, in the hills, or in an open space,” the Malay Mail Online quoted the source as saying.

Captain Shah was a flight simulator enthusiast. This is his home set up.Source:Supplied

The unconfirmed report then goes on to say that all runways programmed into the simulator are 1000 metres long.

Like many other theories, this has not been confirmed by Malaysian authorities and if it is eventually proven, it could just mean Captain Shah was practising emergency landings on his home flight sim.

A navigational radar.Source:AFP

The bizarre part of this report, if it proves to be true, is the listing of the mysterious island of Diego Garcia as an airport programmed in the flight simulator.

Flight simulator set up in the captain of MH370’s home.Source:YouTube

Diego Garcia is a British territory in the central Indian Ocean. On the island there is United States Navy support facility which is home to 1700 military personnel, 1500 civilian contractors, and various Naval equipment. It has received press coverage in recent years after reports emerged claiming Diego Garcia was used to detain alleged terrorists by the US.

Diego Garcia. Picture: NASA.Source:Supplied

Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the search for Malaysia Airlines flight 370, which went missing on March 8 between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing, is focused on a huge area.

“The entire search area is now 2.24 million square nautical miles (7.7 million square kilometres),” he said.

Last contact with plane MH370.Source:TheAustralian

The search area extends north into south Central Asia, passing across far western China, including Xinjiang and Tibet, as well as south deep into the Indian Ocean west of Australia.

As the search enters its 12th day after the jetliner vanished with its 239 passengers and crew, authorities say they still cannot discount any possibility of what happened to the plane.